Whims, Aspirations, and Goals: A Quick Guide

2014-10-24SimGuru Grant

Hi Simmers -

We build big games with a lot of stuff to do. There's a LOT of content in The Sims 4 that you might not know exists if we didn't point it out. One of the ways we do this is with our Goal systems, including Whims and Aspirations. These goals create what we call a "breadcrumb" trail to the content and, when completed, give you a nice reward to change your strategy, options, and story in the game.

Today, I snapped some screenshots to go over a few of the things you might have missed.

Whims

I told my Sim to take a Brisk Shower. This gave her the Energized Emotion. Sims always have two basic Whims, which are the little fluffy clouds above their Portraits. However, when Sims have any Emotion other than Fine (which is our neutral Emotion), they get what we call an Emotional Whim. This Whim is in the far left and is based on their current Emotion.

Emotional Whims are designed to point you towards content that you can ONLY do while in that Emotion, OR ways to fix your current Emotion. If your Sim is Sad, for example, you might get a Whim to Water your Garden with Tears.

If you hover your cursor over any of the Whims, you can find information on that Whim. You'll find the high level subject, where it came from (an Emotion, Trait, or Aspiration), how much Satisfaction you'll receive for completing it (more on that in a second), and a detailed explanation. See the little red X? If you ever don't want to complete a Whim, or want a different one, simply click that X, and it goes away.

Aspirations

Let's look at Aspirations a bit! Click the big star icon in the bottom right. This tells you what your current Aspiration is, your level of Satisfaction and current goals for your milestone. You’ll also find buttons to change your Aspiration and buy rewards.

If you hover over the big gold button inside the Hexagon, you'll see your current Milestone and the Reward Trait you’ll receive after completing the Aspiration.

If you hover over the goals, you'll see detailed information on how to complete it and how much Satisfaction you'll receive.

Changing Aspirations

Tired of your current Aspiration? Want to change things up? You can switch it without losing progress. First click the star button on the right side of the panel and you’ll see this new menu where you can click on different Aspirations and see what Goals they have and generally snoop around.

Keep in mind – You can ONLY receive the Bonus Trait for the Aspiration you select at the beginning in Create a Sim. So, if you start as an Angler but switch to a Creative Aspiration, you'll keep that original Bonus Trait. But you can still receive really cool reward Traits for completing all the Aspirations, so experiment and try stuff out.

Progress

When you're out and about and you make progress towards your current Aspiration, you'll see a short tool tip in the bottom right corner that is there to say "Hey! Good work. You're making progress on this thing."

Now that you have been completing Whim and Aspiration goals and have a lot of Satisfaction, let's go spend it!

Click the little gift package icon on the right side of your Aspiration panel to see the Aspiration Reward Store. Here, you can buy Potions that change your Sims' weight or current Emotion. Or, my favorite, you can purchase permanent Reward Traits. These are VERY powerful and unlock some really cool stuff. You can really change your storytelling or game strategy with these. Experiment, mix, and match, and see how many you can earn before that fateful day comes when Grim sweeps your Sim away.

Remember, if you ever want to see your Traits, click the Traits button.

I think that's it for now. Any questions about Whims, Aspirations, or Goals? Be sure to ask me on Twitter @SimGuruGrant. Now, please feel free to return to your regularly scheduled programming.